1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to signaling devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to multi-power signaling devices.
2. Background Art
Radio frequency signaling devices, such as radio frequency identification (RFID) devices, have often been used to track human beings in public places in order to gather information related to their behavior and habits. Such information may be valuable for business or other reasons. Since radio frequency devices are relatively small and lightweight, such devices may be easily attached onto human clothing. For example, when a guest with an attached RFID device traverses through an amusement park, the signal emitted from the RFID tag may be strong enough to be detected by all receivers in the amusement park. A receiver is a device that may detect the radio frequency (RF) signals emitted from the RFID device through the RFID tag. Receivers may be installed on interactive attractions or in other locations. Therefore, determining the existence of a person within an amusement park may be simple and relatively inexpensive. Furthermore, if the RF signal may be configured to be strong enough to reach only a subset of all receivers within the amusement park at any location, then such a RF signal strength configuration may generate information that may better pinpoint the location of the guest in amusement park. The RFID device may also transmit RF signals small enough to trigger only an interactive attraction the guest engages with at close range. Thus, an amusement park may compile such data gathered from transmissions from RFID devices in order to determine the popularity of each attraction to the individual.
Since current RFID devices may transmit RF signals at only one constant power level, it may be difficult to create a personalized location-based experience using current RFID devices. A personalized location-based experience may be based upon the concept that the environment may react to the guest's movement and location in order to improve the guest's visit. For example, as a guest may be traveling across the open grounds of an amusement park, the guest may wear a RFID device on his or her clothing. The RFID device transmits a RF signal containing information corresponding to that guest and such information may activate certain interactive attractions within the guest's surroundings to create a personalized location-based experience for the guest. Since the RFID device may transmit RF signals at a fixed power level, the range of the signal may be fixed as well, and difficulties with using a single power level RFID device to create a personalized location-based experience may become evident. If all RF signals broadcasted at the highest power level travel for a maximum of 300 meters, then all interactive attractions within 300 meters of the RFID device may be activated by the RF signals and attempt to attract the guest's attention. Thus, RF signals transmitted at highest power level may cause too many attractions outside the proximity of the guest to be operating and results in needless wastes of power usages. Broadcasting RF signals using the lowest power level for a range of up to, say, 10 meters may activate too few attractions to operate for the guest's interactive experience or to attract the guest's attention. Transmitting a signal at only one power level between the highest power level and lowest power level may still fail to guarantee that only the necessary and relevant interactive attractions are operating for the guest's personalized location-based experience. Therefore, current RFID devices that emit RF signals at a single power level may be too inflexible to create, easily and inexpensively, a location-specific personalized experience for a guest.
An activation field generated by each interactive attraction may be used to detect for the RFID device within proximity to the interactive attraction. However, each different activation field may direct the RFID device to transmit a signal at a unique power level so that the source listener of the activation field may accurately detect the signal transmitted from the RFID device. Currently, a RFID device only emits signals at one power level. Therefore, current RFID devices are incapable of being easily integrated into a system with numerous activation fields for the purposes of creating a location-specific personalized experience for the RFID device user.
Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the drawbacks and deficiencies in the art by providing an intuitive and easy to use radio frequency signaling device within a modern technological setting.